Over the Hump

"And Blue All Over"--Wednesday, 11/30/16

Today's Reverse Inspiration features dark dress with a boyfriend cardigan and patterned scarf.  Very good!  (Also hair in a stylishly-messy up-do, which is not a reflection of my look at all.)

From maddinka.com

I went way monochromatic with dark blue/navy dress and cardigan.  I purchased this cardigan at Goodwill in April, thinking that its slouchy boyfriend length and style should work well with dresses...and then spring happened early (i.e., when the calendar said) and I didn't get to try it out until now.  But it was worth waiting for.  This dress was the other Work the Wardrobe Challenge MVP in the dress category with 3 wears (along with the black sleeveless dress)--a testament to its versatility.

*Dark blue boyfriend cardigan (thrifted, Laura Scott), $3.00/wear
Navy sleeveless knit dress (Target), $5.60/wear
Salmon-pink/blue/black floral scarf (Target), $1.71/wear
Navy tights
Navy ankle boots by Seychelles, $8.24/wear

Outfit total: $18.55/wear

It's nice to counteract all that blue with a salmon-pink floral scarf.  Pink + blue is the bomb.

This bun is trying to hide from us in the hay, but nothing can keep his awesomeness secret.

In other news...A very productive day at work, followed by a short Pokemon walk (highlight: Ditto #3), some laundry, a new cell phone decision (iPhone 7), a start on decorating the Christmas tree, and a long-ish cool shower.  Now to get to bed at a reasonable time!

How was your Wednesday?  I hope it wasn't a Thump Day.

Grump

"Dusky Butterfly"--Tuesday, 11/29/16

As soon as I got this sweater, I knew I'd want to try it with burgundy and grey.  The combination was a success.

Dusky pink pullover sweater (Loft), $12.38/wear
Burgundy skirt (Nordstrom), $2.42/wear
Grey tights
Grey ankle boots by Seychelles, $6.36/wear
Black/grey/pink butterfly scarf (Kohls), $2.33/wear

Outfit total: $23.49/wear

I had a few good scarf options, but decided on this very colorful one that has pink, magenta, and grey, as well as a whole lot of other colors.  A snuggly sweater and a fun, happy scarf are helpful to get me through a long, chilly work day.

This is a Giant Owl butterfly, photographed at the state fair.

In other news...Coughing, sneezing, runny nose...blah.  This is going to be a long, long week.

Puny

"Looking Professional, Not Feeling It"--Monday, 11/28/16

How to accessorize printed tops is the focus of this blog post from February 2015.  I love the combination she put together, though it raises for me that question I always have when I see a work outfit that relies on a colorful purse for visual interest:  So that looks awesome walking into the office, but then you put your purse away and walk around in a relatively boring outfit for the rest of the day?  I seriously do not understand this. 

From bridgetteraes.com

When I translate one of these outfit-with-an-interesting-purse ensembles into Sally-land, substituting a bright colored scarf is my go-to play.  I thought about doing that with today's outfit, but given that it's too cool to wear a blouse by itself, I had already put a blazer on it, and putting a bright pink scarf on top of that meant that the floral blouse was almost entirely obscured.  So I thought I'd let the white piping on the blazer be the point of interest instead.

Black/blue/pink floral blouse (JNY), $2.94/wear
Black shutterfold skirt (JCP), $1.40/wear
Single strand pearl necklace (Macy's), $1.95/wear
Black tipped blazer (JNY), $3.89/wear
Black tights
Black heeled Oxfords (thrifted), $0.56/wear

Outfit total: $10.74/wear

So rather than a pop of color, I have white flowers, white pearls, and white piping on the jacket all working together in harmonious accent to brighten up this black pseudo-suit.  Works for me.

This is the last of the floral dress photos from the state fair.

In other news...God, today wiped me out.  This going to work thing is tough.  It doesn't help that I think I'm either getting sick again or am suffering from a major allergy attack.  In any case, it's been a day of coughing, sneezing, runny nose, fatigue, and everything tasting weird.  Bah.  Even though the rain stopped, I wasn't even up to a Pokemon walk tonight, that's how pathetic I am.  I hope I feel better after a (probably inadequate) night's sleep because we have a crazy five day work week this week.  WTH is that all about.

Scything Insult

"Work/Weekend Trickster"--Sunday, 11/27/16

Just a warning in advance--I LOVE the outfit that I wore today.  Let's get to it.

First, props to Alice, the appropriately-named blogger who inspired me with this office outfit that she wore in October, 2014.  In her post, she talks about how her beloved ruby red heels are starting to wear out, so she doesn't wear them as much as she'd like, trying to extend their life by not actually using them.  She calls this a "silly justification" but she hasn't seen silly until she's seen...

From happinessatmidlife.com

...An otherwise normal work outfit with a Cheshire Cat graphic tank!  Luckily, the blazer and skirt are made from a comfortable ponte knit fabric so the outfit is more comfortable than a typical jeans-based weekend outfit despite looking almost ready to go to work.  (Bringing the Cheshire Cat into the workplace is NOT a good idea.  We do not need agents of chaos causing us more trouble in our jobs than we already have.  Although I guess if you had a job that was sufficiently boring, the Cheshire Cat would help stir things up in a good way...maybe?...no, that way lies madness.)

Black Cheshire tank (Disney Alice/Kohls), $4.00/wear
Grey polka dot skirt (Kohls), $1.87/wear
Black ponte knit blazer (Target), $1.67/wear
Burgundy pompom scarf (Payless), $3.40/wear
Black tights
Maroon ankle boots by Dolce Vita, $9.38/wear

Outfit total: $20.32/wear

I'm also pleased by how I pretty much nailed the replication of grey/black dotted bottoms, black blazer, and dark red footwear, while putting a Sally-in-Coldville-Fall/Winter spin on the whole thing.

This bun looks vigilant to the possibility of a Cheshire Cat-inspired bout of pandemonium breaking out.

Here is the view of the river and the high bridge from my balcony this morning.

In other news...For today's Pokemon walk, we went out in the late morning to a lake in town we've never been to before that has a nice park.  On the drive over, I picked up a Rattata that was hanging out inside one of our elementary schools.  After it broke out of a normal ball 10 times, I said, This better be a Ditto or I'm going to be pissed.  I wasn't pissed.  Ditto number two.  We found out pretty quickly that the lake is a Scyther nest.  At one point, we had four Scyther surrounding us.  Scyther aren't particularly strong fighters (so they aren't super-desirable), and because they fly, they're a bit of a bitch to catch (because flyers tend to be far away), but Robert caught two good ones and one mediocre one and we left the rest alone.  (Of course we also caught a bunch of other Pokemon, including several Staryus.)  We also saw a selection of interesting birds at the park--the best probably being about 3 snow geese flying over the lake.  Clearly walk + birding + Pokemon Go is going to be a thing.

But the Pokemon highlight happened about an hour ago when I decided to open Pokemon Go and see if there was anything in the apartment or in the general area...and I saw that there was a Snorlax (one of the best fighting Pokemon and one we didn't have) near a fountain about 3 blocks from our apartment.  We barely had time to grab our coats and hats as we raced out the door, down the stairs, to the fountain...and Robert caught the Snorlax.  There is a theme lately of me finding good Pokemon and Robert catching them.  (Unlike the devilishly difficult Dragonite, I think I could have caught the Snorlax but I let Robert do it because he was really pumped about this guy.)

The scariest Pokemon walk thing was on the way back from the Snorlax, Robert said, That looks like a Venonat, pointing at a roundish thing in the road.  We were both thinking another clump of snow...and then it starting skittering across the road.  I about had a heart attack.  Human skulls do not generally skitter, but what kind of strange animal is it?  Then Robert figured out it was the dried out big round top of some kind of plant that got blown by the wind (note that the wind was not strong enough to be noticeable to us, but a dried out plant top would be very lightweight).  I still approached it warily but indeed, it was the top of a plant, a good 9" in diameter.  

I have done other things today--took outfit photos, watched a few episodes of Elementary, looked into replacing my destroyed all weather mocs from Lands End with a new pair but upon reading the very recent reviews realizing that they have changed the design to be more of a normal shoe and not what I am in the market for, etc.  The next thing for this evening?  Putting up the Christmas tree.  Not decorating the tree, which will take me all week probably as I work on it in the evenings, but getting the tree itself assembled, situated, lights working, and all that.

I'm not ready for the long weekend to be over!  Waaah!

Pokemon Walk, Ditto

"Seasonally Confused Floral Cuddles"--Saturday, 11/26/16

From this inspiration photo, I came away with the idea of a dark teal drapey cardigan, a sparkly graphic T, and patterned flats for a weekend outfit.

From bridgetteraes.com

Since it's now the colder half of the year, it was time for the Cuddle Bunny to come back into play.  I had initially planned to wear this with a burgundy scarf to mimic the inspiration photo, but decided to try out this new thrifted scarf for the second time because the colors went well with the cardigan.  The kinda-clashing double floral print turned out a little bit off, but....BUNNY.  Who notices any other details, you know?

Cuddle Bunny top (Kohls), $0.85/wear
Bootcut jeans (thrifted, Kohls), $0.41/wear
Dark teal drapey cardigan (Coldwater Creek), $2.50/wear
Black floral flats (Payless), $1.08/wear
Mint/white/black floral scarf (thrifted), $2.00/wear

Outfit total: $6.84/wear

Please enjoy the subtle grey-blue-rust coloration of this Lilac rabbit.

In other news...This morning when I went to put on the all-weather mocs I've been wearing for our Pokemon walks, I found that I had worn through the fabric inside to the plastic liner, which had torn on one shoe.  So that's how much Pokemon Go has increased my walking lately.  Luckily I have another (older) pair that I wore today, but I might be taking advantage of the seemingly-daily 40% off sales at Lands End to order a replacement pair.

The highlight of our Pokemon walks today (yes, we took a longer one this morning and a shorter one this evening) occurred only a few minutes out the door this morning, when Robert captured a Pidgey that turned out to be a Ditto.  This is a newly released Pokemon, I think, so it was pretty cool.

Not so cool?  Halfway through watching The Avengers this evening (a pretty good movie, btw), the fire alarms went off in the building.  This was the first time this has happened since we've been here, and it was horribly loud.  I felt a bit like a doofus that I went outside wearing my floral ballet flats with black socks, but I saw at least 6-8 people in pajamas under their coat, so I did not have it the worst.  I was about 35F outside, so chilly but not terrible for the relatively brief amount of time it took for the fire trucks to arrive and for the fire fighters to give the all clear.  But I was glad that I hadn't been in the shower when the alarms went off and had to come outside damp and with wet hair.

Dragonite Despair

"Mixed-Up Floral Overlord"--Friday, 11/25/16

I picked this blue graphic T, cardigan, skirt combo as inspiration for a cooler-weather outfit featuring my Important Date Alice top.  Her outfit is perfect nerdy librarian chic.  For my Friday-off-work outfit, I went in a slightly less coherent direction.

From librarianforlifestyle.com

I could not resist pairing the top, which has a floral print on the lettering, with a floral cardigan.  Then I added a cute peplum hiking skirt and semi-tough ankle boots for an overly-matchy-yet-also-chaotic effect.

Light blue "Important Date" graphic T (Disney Alice/Kohls), $4.32/wear
Black/pink floral cardigan (thrifted, Macy's), $3.50/wear
Black peplum hiking skirt (Royal Robbins/REI), $1.67/wear
Black tights
Black ankle boots by Sam Edelman, $2.59/wear
Bright pink scarf (Target), $1.50/wear

Outfit total: $13.58/wear

Does it look any less nonsensical from this angle?  I didn't want to cover up the lettering peeking out from the cardigan, so I tied my scarf in a new-to-me way.  The base tie is called The Celebrity, but I modified it to have the tails tucked in discreetly.  To me, this outfit is a bit like a Friday-after-Thanksgiving meal of leftovers--there is a sense that some of the things go together well but that it's been supplemented by some really random stuff.

What are you feeling thankful for today?  You know me, I'm all kinds of grateful for the existence of bunnies, especially mini rexes--the little rabbits that bring an extra big dose of softness to a world that needs it.

In other news...I didn't manage to get dressed in this outfit until about 5 p.m.  We had a long Pokemon walk in the morning (for which I wore more practical clothing) that I was exhausted after, requiring a lot of lounging in my comfy chair until I had the energy to take a nap.  It was that kind of afternoon.

On Thursday night, we went out again despite the rain, driving to a couple of Pokemon gyms where we were able to displace the current team.  Because they were in parks, we were also able to walk around a bit and pick up items at some Pokestops. 

The two highlights of that session:  (1) While walking at the park that is almost directly across the river from our apartment, an SUV pulled up and 3 people got out, all excited.  Then after a few minutes they piled into the car and drove away.  I was like, What was that about?  Robert said, I think they were after that Magnemite we just caught.  Duh, Pokemon Go, what else could they possibly be doing? 

(2) While driving down a dark park road, Robert suddenly stopped the car, pointed, and said, Bunny!  He kept trying to explain where it was and finally I saw a shadow that I conceded could be a rabbit, but how could he possibly identify it?  He saw it run to that location.  Oh, that helps a lot.  He pulled the car until the headlights were focused to the side of the shadowy figure with enough light that I could see that it was, indeed, a bunny.  Then we quickly drove away so that the poor rabbit didn't have to sit there in a frozen position any longer.

Speaking of Frozen, last week while we were shopping at Target, I mentioned to Robert how Tam had thought that my light mint scarf looked appropriate for the season because it was a color from the movie Frozen.  And I was like, I have no idea because I don't know what the characters in that movie look like.  No joke, less than an hour later, we were looking at the Christmas ornaments, in the Disney section (where I picked up Alice and the Cheshire Cat), and I said, I don't even know what some of these are--what's that one?  Robert said, The younger sister from Frozen.  I said, OK, what about that one?  Robert said, The older sister from Frozen.  So it has been empirically demonstrated that indeed, I don't know those characters.  But I have no idea how Robert does.

The toughest part of yesterday's Pokemon walk (aside from how much time we spent standing, which kind of kills me) was that we saw a Dragonite, perhaps the most desirable fighting Pokemon, in the wild to be caught...and not knowing any better, we tried to catch it.  Which was HORRIBLE.  See, apparently Dragonite has a 4% base capture rate, which means that once you actually catch it in a standard Poke ball, it escapes 96% of the time.  So of course you turn to your stronger balls and razz berries...and it still breaks free over the over.  But that's probably not the worst part.  What's truly enraging and despairing is that it is almost impossible to hit the Dragonite with a ball to begin with because they are both far away and fly (which makes the small target area on the Dragonite's head very, very far away) so it's extraordinarily difficult to throw the Poke ball far enough to hit it.  I wasn't able to hit it at all.  Robert could very occasionally, but with a lot of practice got up to hitting the Dragonite about 1 time out of 4.  After using up 60+ Poke balls (which included almost all of our high level balls) and god knows how many razz berries...Robert finally did catch it!

So serious props to Robert for catching a rare, prized Pokemon.  (Ours is CP 1232, which is on the low side, but can be powered up into a fighter with a lot less investment than trying to evolve one.)  But I do take credit for putting us in the area to encounter it.  You see, I was looking at all the gyms visible from near our apartment, and I saw one for our team that had a guarding Pokemon with a trainer name that is the nickname of a Snow City woman who is known for doing bird-related educational programs and for loving rabbits.  I was like, Do you think that's THE BC?  Let's go over to the science museum and build up that gym!  (Science museum?  You know that's gotta be her.)  And outside the science museum is where we encountered the Dragonite.

So once Robert wakes up this morning and we have breakfast and all that, guess what we'll be doing?

I'm hoping we do not encounter another Dragonite.  I don't think I could survive it.

Happy Pumpkin Day

"Go Bold and Stay Home"--Thursday, 11/24/16

I admit that a lot of the appeal of this outfit comes from the shoes, an element that I can't even begin to replicate from my own closet.  But I could give the graphic T + blazer + jeans + fun shoes combination a try nonetheless.

From bluecollarredlipstick.com

See, my graphic T even has a face on it...the face of a swooning, bunny-dreaming Alice.  I loved wearing it with a red scarf that picks up that bit of color at her lips.  This colorful blazer with the black edging (a garment detail I love, as I've talked about before) was a lot of fun to wear casually on the weekend, and my matchy-matchy heart loves the flecks of blue and red in the blazer that correspond to Alice's shading.  I finished things off with blue leopard print shoes that look pretty tame and subtle in the photo but are a little bolder in real life (though almost anything will look like background when worn with this blazer).  This is one of my favorite "weekend t-shirt + workweek blazer" outfits to date.  If I were a wear, wash, repeat type of dresser, I'd be doing this one again soon.  Instead it's my own special "holiday that features eating pumpkin cheesecake in quantity" outfit.

White Alice graphic T (Disney Alice/Kohls), $3.60/wear
Bootcut jeans (thrifted, Kohls), $0.44/wear
Multi-colored tweed blazer (thrifted, Sag Harbor), $0.22/wear
Blue leopard oxfords by C Label, $1.40/wear
Red scarf (Target), $1.20/wear

Outfit total: $6.86/wear

This seemed an appropriate day to share this pic of a wild turkey that Robert encountered (and photographed with his phone) at work.

This bird appreciates people eating mostly cheesecake on Thanksgiving.

In other news...Did you have a good Thanksgiving?  Mine so far has involved lots of Pokemon Go, eating turkey/stuffing/pumpkin cheesecake, some outfit planning, and checking in on the interminable Cowboys game.  I'm hoping that there is some Pokemon Go to come before the day is over.

Turn Around, It's a Clump of Snow on the Ground

"An Awkward Shirt"--Wednesday, 11/23/16

Last October, Whitney a la Mode included this outfit from Selah, one of her Blogging Besties buddies.  Polka dot top + dark teal skirt + white cardigan seemed like an easily re-creatable combination that I ended up using as inspiration for my cream cardigan vest.

From whitneyalamode.blogspot.com

My problem was that I hadn't thought enough about the "polka dot top" element of all this.  I was like, oh, if I'm going to wear teal, I should wear my light teal button up shirt with the dark teal polka dots, it's too perfect!  And color-wise, it really did work very well.

Light teal polka dot button up shirt (thrifted, Target), $2.62/wear
Dark teal skirt (JCP), $1.50/wear
Cream cardigan vest (Kohls), $5.87/wear
Grey leggings
Tall grey boots by LifeStride, $7.69/wear
Big dark grey ball necklace (Macy's), $1.88/wear

Outfit total: $19.56/wear

The problem was that I'd forgotten that the shirt is made from a stiff, somewhat thick cotton Oxford cloth.  It's nice enough fabric but it's not very easy to deal with at all.  Even after ironing, it wasn't very happy, but most of the wrinkles would be covered by the vest anyway.  Adjusting it to lay right under the vest was the bugbear.  The final result was OK but I would have been happier in either a knit top or a woven shirt with better drape.  I haven't gravitated toward this shirt as much as I thought I would given its marvelous color/pattern combination, and now I'm remembering why.  I've decided that this shirt has no place in my closet.  I'm increasingly impatient with wearing things that are uncomfortably stiff or have to be futzed with too much.  And while I can sometimes tell this in the store, it's not always obvious to me.  Now I need to add "thick, stiff woven fabric" to my list of warning signs. 

This past weekend at Goodwill, I found a cream faux-fur vest that Robert thought looked like something a barbarian would wear and that I called Skyrim Chic.  Then at Target, walking past the girl's clothing section, I saw at least 3 different cream faux-fur vests.  I guess faux-fur is having another moment.

This Giant Angora approves of humans wearing faux-fur (or no fur) but personally is all about the real thing.

In other news...Work today...well, if you find a quote from Duck Soup to be completely apt to a situation, that's probably a bad sign. 

We have some SQL code that runs every night, and right after our technology people upgraded the database, one of the fields stopped being populated in a table that the code creates.  The person from technology who looked into it said, This code never worked.  (Despite the fact that all kinds of people have seen the data and I even supplied an extract of the data that has the field populated.)  The person from the consulting firm that wrote the code looked into it and said, This code still works.  (Despite the fact that the field is, indeed, empty now.)  This was definitely a "Well, who you gonna believe?  Me or your own eyes?" situation.

For tonight's (~2.75 mile) Pokemon Go walk, we stuck to the sidewalks and the walking path as much as possible, and though we encountered some wet spots, there was little slush and no ice (huzzah) or any slipperiness.  We are enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday special happening through 11/30 with double experience points and double stardust.  There is also supposedly a special Pokemon to catch during this time, too, but we didn't find one tonight.  Luckily we should have a lot of Pokemon playing opportunities over the next few days to give it another try.

I just got a pumpkin cheesecake into the oven.  Mmmmmmm.

Today's post title is taken from the following Pokemon Go walk exchange:

Robert (as he activates the last Pokestop on the route we were retracing, singing):  "Turn around, turn around..."

Me (sternly):  There better not be a human skull on the ground.

Robert (continues singing):  "It's a clump of the snow on the ground."

Me:  Hey, you're right.

And if this has put you in the mood for the song, enjoy.

Very Wet Snow

"An Extra Layer of Beige"--Tuesday, 11/22/16

Office workplace outfit photos that include coats and purses are fun but I sometimes wonder how it looks when the person gets to work and takes off those outer pieces.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of people's stylish commute times, but work outfits that rely on the coat and/or purse to look interesting aren't very applicable to real life.  In this case, I'm sure Katie looked great once her coat (and neutral purse and hat) came off, but I decided to use her camel coat as inspiration for pairing my own green dress and black-with-gold-polka-dot tights (hard to see in the photo but yep, she's wearing this kind, too) with my long beige cardigan.

From styleontarget.com

...A long beige cardigan that I wore to work underneath a coat and kept on all day long for extra warmth/visual interest.

Green dress (Lands End), $5.40/wear
Beige dress length cardigan (thrifted, Kohls), $2.62/wear
Black polka dot tights
Black mary janes by Hush Puppies, $3.73/wear
Orange/green floral scarf (Target), $3.00/wear

Outfit total: $14.75/wear

Of course I could not resist an extra punch of color so I added this vibrant, not-stereotypically-fall-patterned scarf.  I also enjoyed changing things up a bit by putting in a hint of librarian chic with these (fantastically comfortable) mary janes (which I brought to work with me in my bag, since the forecast called for a snow boot commute).

Here's another Alice-in-Wonderland-giant-legs photo of my polka dot tights + mary janes.  Fun times!

Of course, another approach to staying warm on a cold, snowy day is to remain indoors, wear fur, get your body into a compact space with tootsies fully covered, and take a long nap.  It seems to be working for this bunny, anyway!
 

In other news...I think I know this guy.  Do you?

Speaking of The Onion, more on the fake news front.

The ice pellets did not materialize, so I went to work in the rain.  But around lunchtime, it started snowing, lots of heavy wet snow that melted on contact with the ground and created significant amounts of slush.  I had to brush the snow off my car after work, and Robert had to scrape his where the snow/rain mixture had frozen to it (he works about 30 minutes north of where we live/I work).

Now if we can only get through tomorrow, a four day weekend awaits!

Shellder From the Storm

"With a Layer of Mint"--Monday, 11/21/16

In a post from last December, Jess featured an outfit in various shades of grey, including a leopard print.  I used this as a starting point for wearing my grey leopard top.

From elegantlydressedandstylish.com

Grey leopard top + dark grey skirt + grey polka dot tights + light grey boots.  I have a lot of grey going on here.

Grey leopard long-sleeved knit top (JNY), $5.10/wear
Dark grey skirt (Walmart), $3.00/wear
Grey polka dot tights
Grey ankle boots by Seychelles, $6.67/wear
Mint cardigan (Lands End), $2.19/wear
Grey/rust/green floral infinity scarf (thrifted), $2.33/wear

Outfit total: $19.29/wear

But I wasn't feeling the full-on monochrome look, so I perked things up a bit with a dose of (relatively subdued) mint and a dark floral scarf.  Mint is a spring color to me (and I think to America at large) but combined with the darker tones, I thought it worked pretty well for fall.  And of course adding in the pattern mixing of leopard + floral made this outfit more Sally-ified.  For those keeping track at home, yes, I did just wear this scarf on Friday!  But the differing contexts gives it a very different feel, in my opinion.

While we were out playing Pokemon Go yesterday, I noticed that the flower bed at the corner of the apartment building (shown below) had been taken out and replaced with evergreen-ery and red stuff.  While it might feel a bit early for festive Christmas plantings, it's very well timed given that we are expecting 3-5" OF ICE PELLETS tomorrow...that whole freezing rain/ice/snow "wintry mix" mastiness.

This bun is pausing to consider how bad 3-5" of ice/snow sounds.  He doesn't like it, even if he is a Himalayan breed of rabbit!

In other news...Readers with an interest in weird visual art things, check out how this blogger breaks down her experience viewing the (previously unfamiliar to me) Jeff Koons piece "Christ and the Lamb."  Whoa.

Tonight we took a Pokemon walk and encountered a little band of Shellder (hence the blog title for those who do not speak Pokemon).  It was a few degrees warmer than yesterday but with a little bit of wind so it felt colder.  Tech gloves are still da bomb.

If the weather is as bad tomorrow as is forecast, I don't think I will go to work.  I called Robert when I got home to remind him to bring home his computer so he can run his daily report that goes out to his company's leadership every morning by 9 a.m. and work from home all day if necessary...then I realized that I'd left my own computer at work.  (I almost never bring mine home so I'm not really surprised I forgot.  I have the additional challenge that my office mate talks to me while I'm getting my stuff packed up 95% of the time so I'm a little distracted.)

But I can access my email from my home computer, and I have a big file of survey data there.  The program manager for a grant I am working on asked me if I could analyze the data if she sent me the file and I was like, Sure.  I got the zip file from her yesterday and opened it...and it contained about a dozen different files (one for each of several events they got feedback on)...each one of which is a PDF of scanned paper surveys.  Um, I was expecting something like an Excel file or files, you know?

So now I have a big, undesirable data entry job ahead of me, which I immediately put somewhere down low on the to-do list.  But with a day possibly stuck at home without my work computer, entering a bunch of survey data into an Excel file for my future self seems like a pretty decent use of my time.  I figure I can get that yucky job out of the way and then just take personal time (of which I still have a good amount, even with an upcoming 2 week vacation for Christmas) for the remainder of the day.

Of course, if the weather is bad enough, work could get canceled, but that hasn't happened since I've lived here.  But hey, I also haven't looked at a weather forecast here that scared me before.  We just don't get the hellish precipitation with temperatures bouncing around above and below freezing very often.  And I have an entirely rational fear of driving on ice.  The little bit of driving on ice I've seen in Snow City/Coldville does NOT suggest that people up here are better than their southern counterparts at driving on ice.  Even with my short commute, I'm feeling trepidation at the prospect of being out in that.  Well, we'll see how it looks in the morning.

Bunday Pikachu

#Twinning--Sunday, 11/20/16

Sometimes you see an outfit where you have almost all the pieces to create it faithfully (I mean, come on, she is even wearing the Pride and Prejudice version of the Alice scarf I have from the same etsy shop) and you have to give it a shot.  Especially when it's one of the blogger's 4 favorite outfits from Fall 2015.

From librarianforlifestyle.com

I just swapped out a pair of patterned ballet flats (for extra pattern mixing) for her heeled boots (and oops, wore the scarf the wrong way)--otherwise, totally twinning.  It's unusual for me in an outfit of the day to break out the cargo pants that I generally reserve for birding/hiking purposes, but I could not resist matching the inspiration photo in this way.

Olive hiking pants (thrifted)
Cream and grey striped T (Kohls), $1.70/wear
Blue denim jacket (Liz Claiborne/JCP), $3.59/wear
Alice scarf (NerdAlertCreations), $4.44/wear
Grey/rust/tan tribal flats (Payless), $1.33/wear

Outfit total: $11.06/wear

This lady mini rex exudes softness and class with her white fur gently spotted in grey.

The world's softest, most purely white fur pseudo-infinity-scarf: an accessory for all seasons.

In other news...This morning was colder than yesterday--25 F--but because we were not experiencing the up to 40 mph wild gusts, it actually felt quite pleasant to me (though Robert's hands were cold) on our Pokemon walk.  Once again, we stuck pretty closely to our apartment, making the round between the two Pokestops where the main road is and two Pokestops a few blocks away next to the river.  Somehow we managed to get over 2.8 miles in, and we caught another Pikachu, so I consider the outing a success.  There were a couple of other people playing Pokemon as well, which we discovered about 2 minutes after our catching the Pikachu when we heard a young Asian boy's voice from across the street say "Pikachu!" excitedly. 

We also had our first experience of a Pokemon staying in a gym to guard it for 21 hours.  In the cold yesterday, we built up the friendly gym at the dog park to level 10 and stationed a Vaporeon (1300 or so CP) there, and it's still there 28 hours later!  I guess it's too chilly a day for anyone from an opposing team to want to try to break down a level 10 gym (which is the top level).  It'll be interesting to see how long our Pokemon can hold out.

Some Outings

"Simple Puffin Goodness"--Saturday, 11/19/16

Huh, OK, seeing that outfit name written out, it sounds like a tagline for that healthy Puffins breakfast cereal.

Instead it's this basic sweater + skinny jeans + scarf + ballet flats weekend outfit made more fun with some animal print mixing--one whimsical pair of animal figures plus a leopard print item.

Light grey puffin pullover sweater (Loft), $14.88/wear
Black skinny jeans (thrifted, YMI), $0.66/wear
Orange flats (Payless), $0.71/wear
Grey leopard scarf (Target), $1.33/wear

Outfit total: $17.58

Seeing the cost per wear of my blue skinny jeans yesterday ($0.54) and these black jeans today ($0.71), I checked my spreadsheet--I have done a good job of not over-buying jeans.  All my jeans except for one pair are under $1 per wear (the blue skinny jeans at 54 cents are the second highest cost per wear because I bought them new).  That exception?  A pair of very long bootcut jeans that are too long for any shoes but my black wedges.  I've been meaning to hem them but it fell off my radar--perhaps it's time to do that soon.

I was wondering about the relationship between puffins and leopards, which do not share a common territory, to my knowledge, so I typed them into google together and got this lovely reverse inspiration photo.  Now that is some serious layering mojo going on.  I'm just glad that it was warm enough today to wear this sweater without layers.  But don't worry--eventual layering is inevitable.  Now if only I had an orange gingham button up shirt, I'd be in business....

From respecttheeshoes.com

Another black Dutch photo?  I know, but how could I resist featuring this most-puffin-like bunny?  I have paired the Dutch with a black Satin and photographed them using the soft filter on my camera for an extra bit of bunny dreaminess.  (Is this the mental filter Alice uses when she's swooning over rabbits?)

In other news...We went on three outings today, which is unusual for us.

First, after breakfast, we went to Goodwill, dropped off a gazillion things, and picked up a few more.  It was a very good day for quilted vests, just in time for the colder weather.

Second, after lunch (and Robert's nap), we went on a Pokemon gym trip, driving to a few places where we could take opposing gyms or train at a team gym until we could station our own Pokemon there.  We had picked up a few pairs of inexpensive "tech" gloves at Goodwill (they sometimes have new accessories there in bulk) that proved their worth right away because it was below freezing out!  (The gloves also have the desirable effect of eliminating the finger-sticking-to-the-screen problem that happens when my hand is wet/lotioned/etc.)  We had a good outing overall but it was very frustrating that there was this one gym with a single lowish-level defender that we could never get to despite all kinds of attempts to approach it from various angles because it turns out that the road is closed off in all directions.  We did find the place where the current owner of the gym moved the orange cones to drive into that area, but we weren't willing to do that, so we ended up leaving.

Third, after dinner, we and everyone else in town, went to Target to buy groceries for Thanksgiving.  I mean, it wasn't "Christmas Eve at Walmart" busy, or "Trader Joe's in New York City" busy, but it was as busy as I've seen Target.  There was this one guy wandering around the check-out lines holding a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of conditioner, totally exuding despair of his situation because even the self-check lines were long.

Also, at least three times today Robert or I walked around our apartment or the halls of our building to get the last bit of distance needed to hatch an egg or get a candy from our buddy in Pokemon Go.  The game continues to be a good thing for our daily step counts.

First Fall Snowfall

"Matching Plaids"--Friday, 11/18/16

Kate wanted to wear her new sweater one more time while it was still cool enough...in March.  Le sigh.  With the last working Friday of my "Fall" season (ending Nov 30) facing me, I liked this inspiration photo as the basis of a casual Friday work outfit.

From ajourneyinstyle.blogspot.com

I decided I would try layering my maroon plaid shirt with either a white/cream pullover sweater or a sweater vest.  But I had forgotten that my shirt is oversized, and it looked ridiculous with a tighter top layer.  So I improvised and brought out my trusty black cardigan vest.  This helped reign in the volume of the shirt without looking bunched up and strange.  Cardigan vest for the win.
 

Maroon plaid button up shirt (thrifted, Walmart), $1.50/wear
Black open weave cardigan vest (Kohls), $1.10/wear
Skinny jeans (JCP), $0.54/wear
Olive leopard flats (Nordstrom Rack), $2.72/wear
Grey/rust floral infinity scarf (thrifted), $3.50/wear

Outfit total: $9.36/wear

But two things that did work out in this outfit was wearing my olive leopard flats and my new-ish floral scarf in autumnal tones of dark grey, rust/maroon, and dark green to tie the color scheme together.  I am well pleased with the result.

Robert was helping me with a lamp in the living room while I was taking these photos, and I could not resist snapping a pic when I saw how his plaid shirt outfit coordinated with mine.  As a bonus, you can see how billowy this shirt can look--seriously, I feel very strongly that this photograph should be accompanying some "happy news," you know?  BUT I AM NOT PREGNANT, OK?!  There's not even a Chipolte burrito hiding under there.  I'm just wearing a big shirt and standing funny.

In other news...NO, I MEANT IT THE FIRST TIME, I AM ABSOLUTELY 100% NOT PREGNANT!!

These trees have now lost their red-and-green leaves, but I'm enjoying keeping the autumn color vibe going in my outfits.

It was so nice to drive home in normal traffic tonight, even if I did have to brush slush off my car.  The day started out raining and turned to snow in the afternoon, but we've had no accumulation on the roads so far.

Right now the landline phone is ringing.  The name displayed for my caller?  "PHONE CALL."  Yep, that's useful information. I would hate to get confused and think it's a text message.

Mark Zuckerberg thinks that fake news on Facebook isn't a problem.  I think it is.